Insanity
by Kawaii Stella
Summary: Shortly after Hacker's failed attempt at taking over Cyberspace everything seems peaceful. That is, until Dr. Marbles sees someone he's not seen in eleven years. But is she there or not? Is he going insane? #3 in Things Unknown saga.
1. A Rude Awakening

**A/N: Hello! Kawaii here with the next installment of the Things Unknown saga. Book # 3 to be exact. Well novella would be a better term. This one will only have four or five chapters. Then it is to Tales of Infinity! Woo Hoo! Please read, review, and enjoy. ~Kawaii Stella **

**P.S.: If you haven't read the first two (You Can't Escape (1) and Things Unknown (2) ) you might want to since there are slight references to them in here. Things Unknown more than the other. FYI.**

**Disclaimer: I don' own Cyberchase.**

Insanity

By Kawaii Stella

Chapter One

A Rude Awakening

It had been about two weeks since Hacker had tried to take over Cyberspace. Now it was the middle of August and things had been fairly calm since then, most likely because Hacker had been arrested for escaping from prison early last November. Dr. Marbles remembered Hacker's arrest had been the front page headline of the Cyber Journal but the news quickly faded away. Despite things being calmer, that did not mean that all was good. Not much had changed, meaning Motherboard still had that virus and Hacker, when not in jail, still created masses of chaos.

Now it was six a.m. in Cyberspace. Marbles lay in bed after shutting off his alarm clock. He was in his true form; the form in which he had frequently stayed since Hacker's attempt of taking over Cyberspace. For Marbles it was relaxing to be in his own skin, but he still had a lot of work to do; especially when it came to trying to get his relationship with Ada to the next level. Marbles would face that challenge when he got to it. Before he could think any further into the matter, Marbles heard a shrill, girlish giggle come from his closet.

At first, Marbles thought it was the air system but then heard the laugh again. He sat up and put his glasses on then walked to his closet. He opened the closet door and gasped; he couldn't believe at what he saw. He saw a five year old girl laughing from beneath a pile of laundry from an overturned basket. The little girl looked up at Marbles and smiled.

"My God! Dove? No. It's not possible!" He reached for the girl but she vanished.

When the girl disappeared, Marbles yanked his hand back. In all honesty, Marbles wasn't just stunned from the event; he was freaked out beyond belief.

"She's sixteen now Marbles," Dr. Marbles told himself. "Besides, she doesn't remember you anymore." Marbles sighed sadly. He then decided he needed a cup of coffee to get his mind together.

Marbles went into his kitchen to start a pot of fresh, hot coffee. As the coffee poured into the pot, Marbles took a large mug down from the cabinet. Once his mug was full, Marbles sat down on a stool at the island in the center of the kitchen. He picked up his mug to take a drink, but couldn't, so he sat his mug down and put his head in his hands. He was shaking slightly.

"It was her, no doubt about it," Marbles said to himself. "But why am I seeing her now? Dove's lived with relatives almost a decade now. Besides, she turned sixteen almost five months ago. So why did she appear to be five? It was probably just a memory at the front of my mind. Yes, that's it; something like that did happen while she was here." Dr. Marbles reasoned.

He decided that he needed to hear what was happening in the world so he turned the T.V. on. The local news was in the middle of the daily forecast when a breaking news alert flashed on screen. Hacker had once again somehow gotten released from prison.

'Isn't that just fantastic,' Marbles thought to himself. 'A criminal with a record like his should be locked up, never to see daylight again.'

Marbles made his way back to his bedroom to get dressed before he finished his train of thought. 'Especially after what he did to Do…'

Marbles did not let himself finish that thought. Instead he chastised himself. "Marbles," he warned himself aloud. "You're twenty-six; you'll be twenty seven in two weeks. You have to let go of that guilt." Marbles told his reflection in the mirror, knowing what he just said was easier said than done. "I have to take dad's advice; what happened wasn't my fault. I need to move on. But I built that monstrosity…"

Marbles speech to himself was cut short when he re-opened his closet door to grab his jacket. He noticed that the laundry basket was upright, its contents completely in place. Marbles reasoned that that should prove that what he saw was nothing but an illusion. But despite how hard Marbles tried to convince himself it was just an illusion, he couldn't do it. She seemed so real. Dove recognized him and smiled at him, exactly like she used to. It was just so real!

After several moments of calm silence, Marbles had decided to just forget that he even saw her. Then he saw a shadow stretch out from the doorway behind him. Marbles was too startled to look behind him, especially when he heard, "Big brother, come play with me!"

Marbles spun around but there was nobody there. He looked both ways at the hall and again saw nothing. Wide-eyed, Marbles stood there astonished. Was he going insane?

~The Northern Frontier~

~Earlier the Same Day~

On the desolate Cybersite known only as the Northern Frontier, there were very few inhabitants. Three inhabitants to be exact; an evil cyborg known as The Hacker and his two henchmen Buzz and Delete. It had been rather quiet as of late, simply because Hacker had been in prison. However, for an unknown reason he was released late last night. That was when he finished his latest device; the device that would bring his creator to his knees.

Late last night Hacker had been greeted by his none too bright henchmen Buzz and Delete. Although not bright, the two were very loyal and did what their boss commanded of them. When Hacker set foot upon his cyber craft, he quickly put the two to work.

Now one would think that Hacker, returning to his home after nearly a week in jail, would want nothing more than to simply sleep the rest of the night away in his own bed. Well, that wasn't the case. Hacker was still steaming mad after his failure to conquer Cyberspace almost fourteen days ago.

How dare Dr. Marbles, his father Sartorius, Ada Lovelace, and the Cybersquad foil his plan! Hacker wanted revenge on all of them, but Dr. Marbles was on the top of that list. Dr. Marbles would be the one to fall at the hands of The Hacker. His plan was ingenious, diabolical, and cruel beyond reason. Hacker's plan had come from something very mundane, a knocked over box of tapes containing security footage.

The security footage came from Control Central and was a decade or so old. Hacker, for reasons he could not even remember, had copied the footage from the Control Central database shortly before he had been banished. At first, Hacker had been quite angry that Buzz and Delete had made such a mess. That anger had quickly faded away once Hacker played one of the tapes. On screen showed a young Dr. Marbles perhaps seventeen years old. He was playing with an adorable five year old girl; none other than his precious baby sister, Dove.

Hacker remembered Dove Shovat well. That little girl could capture your heart in an instant. She was so small that she never looked her age but she was sharp as a tack. Little Dove had suspected from the first moment she met Hacker that he was evil; she had even told her big brother so. She had been right of course, but her brother hadn't heeded that warning until it was too late… What Hacker had done to her, what Marbles hated him for the most, had been an accident, but in the end it had given him an insight as to one of Marbles' weaknesses.

Using advanced technology that harnessed the imagery and vocal patterns from the footage, the device had made the ultimate little weapon with endearing eyes. Sending his little weapon of psychological destruction into Control Central meant that it would only be a matter of time before Hacker would have Marbles at the end of his rope. At about 3:30 a.m. Hacker set his device to go off at about 6:05 a.m. for the first time within Control Central. Hacker couldn't wait to watch Marbles lose it.

Finally with the device timed to go off Hacker went to get some sleep. He wouldn't have a rude awakening in less than three hours. But Marbles would.


	2. Freak Out

_**A/N: Words with number in brackets has a definition at the end of the chapter.**_

_**Don't own Cyberchase.**_

Insanity

Kawaii Stella

Chapter Two

Freak Out

~The Northern Frontier~

Hacker, after feeling such satisfaction from the completion of his sinister device, had slept in until 9:30 a.m. He woke up refreshed, knowing that his plan was already in action and all he had to do was sit at his control monitor and tell his device what to do. When he got up, Hacker was very eager to see if his little weapon had done any significant damage yet. So, with his breakfast in hand Hacker sat in his recharger chair and hacked his way into Control Central's security system.

No, Hacker wasn't trying to shut Motherboard down. Not today at least. Today Hacker was more interested in watching this morning's footage. He wanted to watch Marbles freak out after he saw little baby Dove. Hacker rewound the footage until he saw Marbles go into the kitchen. Hacker was delighted at how disturbed Marbles had become. It simply made his morning. The footage advanced to show the hallway outside of Marbles' bedroom after Marbles had dressed. Hacker knew exactly what Marbles had seen; Hacker had programmed it! To Hacker, it was wonderful that something so little had caused his creator and nemesis so much pain.

As Hacker took a bite of his muffin he remembered the first time he met Dove Shovat. It had been just a few days after Hacker had been brought online.

*Flashback*

_Hacker, just days old but with the appearance of a teenager, was finishing helping his creator rewire a part of Motherboard's circuitry. It was late in the evening, perhaps around seven thirty to eight o'clock. Earlier Dr. Marbles had left Hacker to work on the wiring himself while the Doctor went to take care of something in his housing sector. Hacker had had no difficulty with the task and Marbles hadn't been gone long. As the two finished their project the large door to the Control Room opened and a small figure entered the room. It was a small girl with shoulder length silvery white hair and large blue eyes. She was dressed in a pink nightgown and held a tattered stuffed Squirtle[1]. _

"_Golly gee, who's that?" the young Hacker asked._

"_Dove! Why are you out of bed?" Marbles asked his little sister who had walked over to him. _

"_I can't sleep," Dove said as her big brother picked her up into his arms. "It's too quiet without Chazz." She informed her brother then noticed Hacker. "Who are you?"_

"_Oh! I forgot that I've not introduced you yet," Marbles said. "Dove, this is my new assistant Hacker. Hacker, this is my baby sister Dove."_

'_Baby sister?' Hacker thought to himself. 'That's not possible is it? The girl is obviously human while her "brother" is a cyborg. Dr. Marbles is a cyborg, isn't he?' _

"_Uh, hello there," Hacker told the little girl. The girl furrowed her brow at Hacker. Hacker could tell that the little girl didn't quite know what to think of him. _

"_Hi," Dove said to Hacker then yawned. _

_"It's way past your bedtime," Marbles told his little sister. "Hacker, we're done for the day, why don't you go back to your quarters and get some rest?" Marbles said then addressed his sister again. "Come on, Dove, let's get you back to bed. We're just going to have to find a way for you to get to sleep without your twin in the room now aren't we?" _

_Dr. Marbles took his baby sister back to their housing sector where he put her back to bed. As Hacker went to his own quarters he knew he had to find out some information on his creator. The main question was if Marbles was cyborg or human. He certainly looked like a cyborg but was his appearance nothing but a disguise? For days Hacker debated whether to go through Marbles' files, ask Motherboard, or just ask Dr. Marbles himself. After much debate Hacker decided to just go through Marbles' records. _

_However, it turned out he wouldn't have to go through the records. Hacker was asked to watch Dove and her twin Chazz for twenty minutes until Marbles' older brother arrived to take the two home. Marbles' brother was running late and Dr. Marbles had a date with his girlfriend Ada. When Hacker arrived at Marbles' housing sector he found that Dr. Marbles appeared human! No part of a cyborg could be found in the man's appearance, although Dr. Marbles appeared to be no more than seventeen. Dove also appeared very different! Her hair was now jet black like her twin's. When Marbles left the children with Hacker, he started to ask them questions._

_Through his questioning Hacker found out that Dr. Marbles was not a cyborg at all, rather he was a vampire; as was most of his family. Also, Hacker had learned that Dr. Marbles was seventeen years old. That was just about all Hacker learned from the two five year olds. _

_Before she left with Marbles' older brother, Dove told Hacker straight out, "I don't like you. You are an evil, evil man with a black heart." _

'_So, that's how she feels about me," young Hacker thought to himself. 'She's right, but I don't think her brother will suspect a thing.'_

_*END FLASHBACK*_

"And he never did suspect a thing," Hacker told himself and laughed evilly. "The truth had hit him in the face like a, well a sledgehammer!" That sent Hacker into another frenzy of laughter.

Buzz and Delete, who had entered the room, had no idea what was going on.

"Why is a sledgehammer so funny boss?" Buzz asked.

"Does it have to do with that little girl?" Delete asked.

"Yes boys, it does have to do with that little girl. A sledgehammer has to do with the reason why Dr. Marbles hates me so much. I'll explain later. Now I do believe I'll send Dr. Marbles another surprise at work."

Hacker typed input into his computer and sent the first of a new series of holographic Doves to mess with Dr. Marbles' mind. He decided to mess with his mind even more and made the holographic- Doves even more realistic by changing her hair and eye colors just as the little metamorphagus[2] had done all those years ago. Hacker sent the first Dove of this series into Control Central. He kept the security footage on screen so he could kick back, relax, and watch Marbles lose it piece by piece.

~CONTROL CENTRAL~

It was now noon in Cyberspace and Dr. Marbles was on edge already. It seemed like everywhere he went he either heard or saw a shadow of Dove. He ate his lunch in peace; focusing on the tasks ahead of him this afternoon. In actuality, he only had one large task left for the day. He, along with Digit, had to go underground to fix the wiring, pipes, and circuits that controlled Motherboard's cooling tank. At twelve thirty Dr. Marbles descended the ladder underground where he met Digit. The two walked to the tank where the pipes and things needed to be fixed.

Marbles started by fixing and replacing wires as needed, Digit assisting as needed. Secondly he checked the circuits, noting which ones were faulty or broken so they could be replaced once the pipes were mended. Marbles crawled under the pipes so he could mend them. So many of the cooling pipes were leaky and rusted, it left Marbles no choice but to shut off the cooling system temporarily. Shutting off the cooling system would be very dangerous to Motherboard's system if it was left off very long. Marbles had to work fast to fix all of the pipes that needed to be fixed before Motherboard's system would be harmed beyond repair.

Within an hour's time Marbles had all the pipes repaired and he had Digit turn on the system once again. For a few minutes Marbles stayed under the pipes to make sure that none busted. When all the pipes worked fine, Marbles slid out from beneath the piping. He then got up on his feet to repair the circuits. Marbles went to pry off the first circuit when Dove, with blonde hair this time, popped up from behind the circuit board monitor yelling, "Peek-a-boo!"

"Ahhhhh!" Marbles screamed, falling on his rear in fright.

"Doc, what's wrong?" Digit asked, coming to Marbles' side.

"I-it was Dove! She was right there! Didn't you hear her too?"

"What are you talking about, doc? There's no one else here but you and me."

Marbles looked back to see that indeed there was no one else there. He couldn't believe it. She was there, she yelled peek-a-boo; just like she used to when she wanted to surprise him when he was working. Was this all a dream? No, Marbles assured himself that he was indeed in the present by pinching himself. Despite his utter confusion as to why he kept seeing his baby sister, Marbles still had a job to do.

"Must've been a trick of the light," Marbles said to Digit. "Soldering Pen, please Digit."

Digit gave the pen to Dr. Marbles and as he did Digit realized just how much Dr. Marbles was freaking out over this. It seemed like it wasn't the first time the doc had "seen" Dove today. Digit had never seen Dr. Marbles this freaked out and skittish. Digit accidentally dropped a screwdriver and Marbles jumped a foot into the air. It worried the cyboid deeply. If the Doc wasn't out of this funk by tomorrow, Digit was going to call the Cybersquad for help.

Terms:

[1]: If you have never watched Pokémon before, Squirtle is the water type starter Pokémon from Kanto which looks like a little blue turtle.

[2]: Metamorphagus: A term I think I picked up from reading Harry Potter. A metamorphagus is a person who can change their appearance at will.


	3. Catch Me If You Can

Insanity

Kawaii Stella

Chapter 3

Catch Me If You Can

When Marbles went into his housing sector, he didn't know what to do. He had to clear his mind somehow; he had to calm down. Why was he seeing her? He wished she was there, he really did. He missed his baby sister so, but she was away for a good reason. But, he could've prevented the key event that got her taken away. If only he had paid attention to the signs that Hacker was evil…

"You have to calm down," Marbles told himself shakily. "What will calm me down? A swim! That's it; a nice, long swim in the pool will surely calm me down."

So Marbles went and put on his swim trunks and went to the pool storage room. In the storage room he grabbed a fluffy towel and put in contact lenses so he could see where he swam. He went to the pool, which was large with two different diving boards and dived into the deep end head first, letting the cool water relax his mind and body. Marbles did laps around the pool before leisurely swimming beneath the surface, floating on his back with his eyes closed only when he needed air.

Marbles swam for about two hours and felt considerably calmer near the end of his swim. He dived under one last time and opened his eyes under water and looked to the surface, the image skewed only by the rippling of the water. He saw a small figure clad in pink on top of the diving board. Quickly Marbles swam to the surface, to see none other but Dove in a little pink swimsuit sitting atop of the board, swinging her legs above the water. This time her hair was as black as night and her eyes the same shade as their father's.

When Marbles saw that she was really on the diving board he started to swim towards her, but not fast enough. Dove stood up and said, "Marbles, I wanna swim like you! Teach me, teach me!" It was then when the little girl jumped right into the water causing Marbles to panic. He dove under to save her but she was nowhere in the water. She wasn't above the water either. He was by himself in the pool.

"Wha-?" Marbles said. "She went under. I saw her. I must sound like a broken record but I saw her! I really did…" Marbles' voice faded away into the sound of the water. He swam the pool once more as he searched for Dove. Of course she was nowhere to be seen.

Finally Marbles got out of the pool and went back into the housing sector where he decided to shower and put on his comfiest sweatpants and t-shirt in yet another attempt to calm himself down. By now it was past eight in the evening and Marbles should've eaten his dinner by now but he had no appetite. He just didn't feel like doing anything but figuring out why Dove was there.

For what seemed like an eternity Marbles paced his home trying to think. He looked at the old photographs on the walls wishing they could give him the answers he so desperately sought for. Many of the pictures he looked to showed Dove's image, ranging from her infancy to her toddler years; the last years Marbles had seen her. Every now and again he thought he heard her voice from various parts of the house but his investigations into the matter had proved unfruitful. Finally Marbles gave up his search and went to bed, hopefully ending this nightmare of a day.

Despite how hard he tried to sleep, Marbles couldn't. All he could do was lay there and wondering why God was putting him through this. What Marbles' didn't know however was that it was not God's doing, it was Hacker's.

Now seeing his sister was becoming bad for Marbles. It was bad because as Marbles thought about her more and more, Marbles' most painful memory was unearthed more than ever. Now it was near impossible to stop the memory from floating back, it hit him at full force.

Flashback

_Dove had been five at the time it happened. It was the first time that Dr. Marbles had seen Hacker's true colors. It was an early summer day at Control Central, but the weather still felt like spring. Marbles had the day off to spend with Dove and Chazz while he left Hacker to take care of Motherboard with his recently built assistant, Digit._

_The day had gone well and at lunch time when Marbles went to start lunch, the twins left to play in their room. They had played there for quite some time until, according to Chazz, they heard a sound. Dove had been more courageous than Chazz, thus being the one to investigate the sound. That had been the mistake of her little life._

_Marbles couldn't even begin to fathom the pain that Dove was in. He remembered her agonizing scream echoing down the halls. Marbles remembered clear as day sprinting down the hall, smelling blood and hearing her cries. When he found her it was an appalling sight._

_The growing puddle of blood…her shoulder mutilated…her eyes full of tears. And Hacker running away like a coward._

_Thanks to his father's and his medical expertise they were able to save her and her shoulder without much damage. The scar was ugly and long though, held together by thirty or more stitches. It was an everlasting reminder of Marbles' mistake. Once the stitches were out, Dove was going to have her memories locked away so she could try to lead a "normal" life far away from Cyberspace._

_Marbles remembered one of the last things Dove had told him before she left. She had said that, "You know I'm glad that it was me Hacker hit instead of you. You can do lots more than me; you get to help Cyberspace, I can't do that. I'm not as useful as you are, that's why I'm glad it was me. You're worth more."_

_Days later, she was gone._

"You have no idea how much you're truly worth Dove. You're more useful than you'll ever know," Marbles said aloud, sitting against the headboard pulling his knees to his chest.

All of his life Marbles tried to abide by the unspoken rule of men: Men don't cry. In conscious memory, the only time he could remember breaking that rule was when he was seventeen; that day Dove got hurt. Now he was breaking that rule again. He just couldn't take the pain anymore.

For several moments it was pure silence; Marbles just sat there with tears streaming down his face. After so long the tears stopped, there were none left to shed. He sat there in bed wide awake past eleven at night, unsure about what would happen next or what to do. He finally decided to just lie there, praying sleep would take him soon. Marbles may have been an inch closer to sleep when he felt something on his chest; something that weighed several pounds but was still small.

Marbles' eyes slowly opened to see the white haired Dove sitting on his chest. Her blue eyes stared in his with a playful grin.

"Get up sleepyhead! It's time to play!" She giggled then crawled off the bed running to the door. "Catch me if you can!" She challenged before running out of the room.

Marbles knew that was the perfect plan; he would catch her and find out why she was there. Like a wild animal he ran out of his room after, once again nowhere to be seen, Dove. He ran everywhere looking for her slipping around in his socks. His normally calm and wise brown eyes crazed with emotion.

Meanwhile, Hacker watched his creator go insane. He laughed at Dr. Marbles' misfortune, pleased he was causing it. Hacker knew that it wouldn't be long before Marbles lost it completely. Tomorrow would be the day that Dr. Marbles lost his marbles for good.


	4. Intervention

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter four. Only one chapter left to go and I'm almost done with it! I'd like to say thank you for all of the support given for this story along with the support for my other Cyberchase fanfictions. You guys rock! Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer! Read, Review, and Enjoy! ~Kawaii**

Insanity

Kawaii Stella

Chapter Four

Intervention

Out of his room Marbles ran like a crazed animal that had just been released from its cage for the first time in ages. He ran from room to room, trying to catch the source of the giggling that haunted his ears. With his feet only clad in cotton socks Marbles slipped and slid across the floors. He bumped and ran into end tables and shelves, knocking things to the ground. The glass picture frames shattered as they crashed to the floor. Marbles, so set on trying to catch his disappearing sister, had no idea that his escapade was being heard from outside by Digit.

Digit heard glass shatter into tiny shards and distant shouts from inside Marbles' housing sector as he walked past. Digit hadn't been able to sleep well because he couldn't stop thinking about how freaked out Dr. Marbles had been that afternoon. Digit was going to check on Marbles to see if he was doing any better. Now Digit knew Marbles was far from fine. He needed an intervention. Soon.

Flying back to his own quarters Digit thought about who he should call. Rather, who would Marbles listen to? Digit knew where Marbles kept his spare address book with all of his family members' phone numbers. It was in the top left hand drawer of the desk in the workshop. Digit had gotten the book as he went back to his quarters. Now he flipped through the pages, trying to determine which one Marbles would listen to.

Should Marbles' father, Sartorius, be brought in? Sartorius was a voice of reason; maybe Marbles would listen to him. However, Marbles claimed to be seeing Dove, so perhaps he would listen to her twin brother. That seemed like a plan. Digit flipped to Chazz's phone number. He dialed it, and waited for Chazz to answer.

"Hello?"

"Chazz! I'm so glad you picked up!"

"Digit? What do you want? It's late and I'm kind of in the middle of something."

Digit could hear the sounds of a video game in the background.

"Your brother, he's gone off the deep end!" Digit exclaimed.

"Yeah, so; what else is new?"

"No, I'm serious! He keeps saying that he's seeing Dove!"

"Wait, what? For real?"

"Yeah, and now he's running around like a maniac trying to catch her."

"Is she really there?" Chazz asked, doubting the possibility himself.

"I don't think so because he said something about a little girl. Can you come out tomorrow and talk some sense into him?"

"Yeah, I'll be there first thing," Chazz promised before hanging up.

As promised, Chazz showed up early the next morning. The Cybersquad arrived early too, as Digit had also called them incase Chazz needed extra help. The Cybersquad couldn't help but look at the handsome teenager. Not just because of his looks, but because of how familiar he looked.

"Guys, this is Chazz," Digit said to the Cybersquad. "Chazz, this is the Cybersquad."

"It's nice to meet you. My brother speaks highly of you." Chazz said.

Chazz, sixteen, looked remarkably like his brother today. Black hair framed his face where his grey eyes assessed the three kids. Chazz stood at five feet seven and was rather slender. He wore dark wash jeans and black shoes along with a dark navy button up with the top buttons undone; the sleeves of the black suit jacket were rolled up to his elbows, showing that he was well built. Chazz, like his sister, was a metamorphagus. Even with his appearance as such he still somehow undoubtedly looked just like his twin. Perhaps that was why Chazz looked so unknowingly familiar to Matt.

Chazz was very smart and knew Control Central almost as well as his brother or father. The place hadn't changed much at all since Chazz had been a child, although he knew it was amazingly different from when his father was young.

"I don't know what's really going on with my brother, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Chazz told the others.

"What's going on exactly?" Jackie asked.

"Well, according to Digit, Marbles is claiming that he's seeing Dove around here." Chazz said, running a hand through his hair.

"Who's Dove?" Matt asked.

"My twin sister."

"Why didn't she come here with you if Dr. Marbles says that he's seeing her?" asked Inez confusedly.

"Sis doesn't remember us and she doesn't live in Aldenmor with us. None of us except Mom and Dad have seen her over the past decade. It's rough; it's not an easy thing for twins to be separated." Chazz said sadly.

Chazz's sadness over the matter left the other four silent. They wanted to know more, but couldn't bring themselves to ask their questions.

"Well, I should go check on the maniac." Chazz said before leaving the main room to go into his brother's quarters.

Inside the sector where his brother resided, Chazz found everything rather in order. Digit had told Chazz that he had heard the sounds of glass shattering near the door last night. Now Chazz saw no glass. A reasonable part of Marbles' brain must have surfaced again and convinced him to clean up his mess. Despite the tidiness of the sector Chazz still expected Marbles to be in an awful state, so when he finally found his brother, Chazz was rather shocked.

Chazz found his brother sitting at the kitchen table in full order, calmly drinking his morning coffee.

"Ah, good morning, Chazz; I didn't expect to see you here." Marbles said normally, like nothing was wrong. "Why don't you have a seat, I'd like to talk to you." Marbles motioned to the chair across from him. Chazz sat, wary of the coming speech.

"So, uh, what's up?" Chazz asked.

"Chazz this sounds crazy, but she's here."

Chazz already knew whom Marbles spoke of, but went along anyway. "Who's here?" Chazz asked.

"Dove! She showed up yesterday morning. She was running around all last night; she's probably found somewhere to curl up and rest by now. The little dickens just doesn't want to be caught! She's still as sneaky as ever; she hides in the little nooks and crannies I'm too big to reach. Do you remember the little nook behind the library downstairs where you two used to hide? She gotten back there no less than three times."

"Listen bro, you have to calm down. Dove's sixteen, same as me. There's no way she could've gotten back there. How could she have gotten back there?"

"Because somehow she's five again!"

"What? That's not possible Marbles, you know it. She was taken away."

"But I saw her Chazz; I did." Marbles' tone was sad and pleading. He believed his words.

"I don't doubt you did see her, but she's not really here."

"Then why am I seeing her Chazz?"

"I don't know, but you can't go on like this. Digit called me last night saying that is sounded like a wild animal got loose up here."

"I did go a little crazy last night… trying to catch her."

"Maybe you should take some time off. You've not been home in a long time and Mom would love to see you. Go somewhere, relax for a while."

"Maybe I should; but first I need to know why I'm seeing her."

"I'll help you," Chazz agreed before the too familiar Hacker Alert went off.

Chazz and Marbles rushed into the Control Room to be greeted by a transmission from, you guessed it, the Hacker. Hacker was in the Spheres of Fears, and behind him, in a cage, to Chazz's surprise, was little five year old Dove. Now Chazz knew what was going on. The only thing was: he didn't think that Marbles realized that it was Hacker behind this whole thing.

Chazz was correct in his suspicion. Marbles immediately set out to stop Hacker and save Dove himself. Now it was up to Chazz to convince his brother that the little Dove he kept seeing was not real before Marbles did anything extremely rash, which almost seemed inevitable.


	5. Confrontations

**A/N: Can it be? The last chapter of Insanity? Yes, it is. This chapter is a teeny bit dark and a little bit horrific, but I don't think it's too bad. But if you become squeamish easily, don't eat while reading this chapter. Also, this chapter shows to NEVER play with guns. You'll see why.**

**I'd like to give a very special thankies to Elena McVoy, who helped me with the ending. She's becoming quite the queen of suspense!**

**Well, on with the show and I hope you'll return for the fourth installment in the Things Unknown Saga, Tales of Infinity! Review please!**

Insanity

Kawaii Stella

Chapter Five

Confrontations

Together, Chazz and Marbles took the two seat Cyber-Coupe to the notoriously known spears of fears. The Cybersquad had stayed behind, wisely letting the two brothers figure this out by themselves. It didn't take long for the two to find where Hacker had landed. Marbles and Chazz hid in the brush, taking in their surroundings before they went any further.

Marbles was too preoccupied looking for Dove to notice what Chazz noticed. Chazz saw a small, almost invisible projector protruding from the side of the Grim Wreaker. Chazz mentally followed the line of projection and, sure enough, at the end of the line, was a little version of his twin sister in a cage. Chazz was appalled by the cruelness of it all.

Chazz hated Hacker almost as much as his brother. Especially after what Hacker had done to Dove. It was his twin sister Hacker had hurt in attempt to murder their brother. Chazz knew all about the attempt to take over Cyberspace not so long ago, then trying to kill his father, his brother and his probably soon-to-be sister in law, and the Cybersquad. Chazz didn't understand why Marbles didn't shut Hacker down when he had the chance.

Out of all his siblings, Chazz knew it was Marbles he looked up to the most. Marbles had taught Chazz a lot and had always been there for him. Now it was Chazz's turn to be there for Marbles. Chazz wasn't about to let Hacker drive Marbles to his end.

"I'm going to go check things out." Chazz told Marbles.

"Great idea, Chazz; I'm going to keep an eye on Dove." Marbles said. His tone had an almost hysterical edge to it.

That hysterical tone scared Chazz to death. He had never seen Marbles like this before. Sure, Chazz had seen his brother's temper flare. (Actually, all Shovat's had a bit of stubbornness and a temper buried in them.) But NEVER had Chazz seen his brother so messed up. Chazz knew now just how much Hacker's attack on Dove still haunted Marbles. Chazz had to stop this once and for all.

Chazz snuck away to the Grim Wreaker to shut off that projector. Unbeknownst to Chazz, Hacker saw Chazz sneak towards his ship but Hacker didn't care. Hacker took this as his chance to take down his mentally weakened creator. Hacker called Marbles via video conversation.

"What do you want now Hacker?" Marbles snapped upon answering the call.

"The same thing as always, my dear Dr. Marbles: I want complete and utter control of Cyberspace."

"Never!"

"Oh, I don't believe you have a choice in this matter. See?" Hacker said as he moved the camera to show Dove in her cage. The little thing appeared terrified beyond her wit.

"Marbles, please! Please help me! Get me outta here! I wanna go home!" The little girl cried.

"Give me control of Cyberspace and she will remain unharmed." Hacker bargained.

Marbles growled and furiously disconnected the communication line. He grudgingly made his way to Hacker's location. He didn't want to give up Cyberspace, but Dove was his priority. Marbles heard a loud crash and immediately his thoughts jumped to that Dove had been hurt or she was in deeper in danger. Marbles took off at a sprint and quickly made it to the clearing where Hacker waited. There was a light fog over the ground; this, of course was the creepiest place in Cyberspace after all.

It was a standoff for several minutes. Neither one talked; they stared at each other with intense disgust of the other. However, Hacker's facial expression was the slightest bit smug; he knew he had the upper hand here. The silence was eventually broken by a slew of cursing from Chazz, who had been caught by Buzz and Delete.

"Stupid robots! Let me go now!" Chazz commanded as he was escorted up next to Hacker.

"Shut it wills ya?" Buzz barked.

"Now, will you give me what I want now?" Hacker asked again.

Marbles stood silent.

"You really don't have a choice; I have both the twins." Hacker gloated.

"Don't do it, bro! That's not Dove and you know it! Dove's sixteen, not five and she's not been here since _you_," Chazz sneered at Hacker. "Almost killed her!"

"Don't be foolish child," Hacker smirked. "Don't you know your own twin sister when you see her?"

"No Hacker, YOU are the fool, not I. There is no way in the world that Dove could be five again. If you wanted to trick everyone, you should've been smart and gotten her age correct. Oh wait, it's not possible for you be smart; you don't have a brain."

"Quiet! You will not talk to The Hacker that way!" Hacker barked. "Besides, neither of you could ever prove she's a fake."

"Oh yeah?" Chazz then quickly back kicked Buzz and Delete's legs out from beneath them. They fell to the ground in a heap and even neither Hacker nor Marbles expected what Chazz did next.

Chazz, from inside his coat, pulled out a pistol. With excellent marksmanship he took out the projector in one shot. With the projector gone, the little blue eyed girl vanished into the thin air. Finally, Marbles' head cleared substantially.

"You fail again, Hacker." Marbles said. "I can't believe how foolish I was to fall for your trap. However, I am no longer at the mercy of you cruel tricks." Chazz now stood at Marbles' side.

"Think again." Hacker said. He clicked a small remote and a new projection was created. It showed security footage from the end of May, a decade ago.

The footage had been copied from Control Central's database, although Marbles didn't know how. This specific segment of footage had been taken from the records. The only known copies were in the hands of Marbles and Chazz's father. Sartorius was also the only one who had watched it; he hadn't let any of his children see this disturbing footage.

The footage was of that fateful day. It showed as Hacker waited in the dim hallway in Marbles' sector. Then a shadow began to grow from the other direction. Hacker had hidden to where, as Dove came around the corner, she couldn't see him. The strike had been meant for Marbles; Hacker had planned to sadistically beat Marbles to death but everything went wrong. The footage seemed to go in slow motion now. The sledgehammer swinging with the force that should have sent Marbles to the floor; instead it sent the poor little girl flying after the steel collided with her left shoulder. She flew into the old fashioned radiator which inflicted many gashes and a slight concussion. Ever so slowly, Dove fell onto her stomach as her blood pooled around her as Hacker ran away and Marbles came to her aid in a panic. Marbles frantically tried to stop the flow of blood which coated his hands, pants, and shirt. Soon after, Sartorius appeared, appalled at the sight before him will desperately trying to save his daughter.

That was how it happened. Chazz and Marbles faces had paled to a ghastly white at what they had just seen. Their emotions went from shock, to sadness to anger in a matter of seconds. They didn't want to accept the reality of what they had just seen, but they knew it had happened. The brothers wanted revenge and Hacker was outnumbered. His henchmen had fainted during the video. Chazz readied his gun again as to his surprise, Marbles brought out his own.

"Give it up, Hacker. It's over." Marbles said.

"I will never give up!" Hacker defied as he threw a weighed rope like a boomerang, catching Chazz around the legs.

Chazz couldn't keep balance and fell against his brother, causing an unforeseen chain of reactions. As Chazz fell onto Marbles, Marbles lost his own stance and stumbled. That caused him to accidentally pull the trigger of his gun. The bullet did not hit Hacker, but instead it the electric box a foot and a half behind him. The arcs of electricity that flew from the box enveloped Hacker and quickly fried his hard drive, thus deactivating him for good.

Marbles and Chazz were stunned yet relieved at the outcome of this chain reaction. Marbles freed his little brother and left the Cybersite for Control Central, leaving Buzz and Delete to take care of the mess. By law, the Grim Wreaker fell into their hands anyway.

The news of Hacker's demise was welcomed with glee. Although Motherboard's virus still needed to be cured, celebrations erupted. Every cybersite known, minus one nearly uninhabited one, celebrated their freedom from Hacker's havoc. For the first time in a long time, the citizens of Cyberspace could live in peace without fear. Things grew increasingly better for everyone. Marbles' attitude increased tenfold. He took a two week vacation and celebrated his twenty seventh birthday with his family in Aldenmor. Afterwards he went back to work, eager to find a cure for Motherboard's virus.

As happiness consumed Cyberspace, little did Marbles, or anyone for that matter, realize what was happening in the recesses of Cyberspace. Buzz and Delete, the normally dim-witted minions of the late Hacker, were hatching a scheme some would call evil beyond their capabilities. They were putting something together. Something evil and ready for revenge, even on the most innocent of people.

THE END.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! I hope to have the first chapter of Tales of Infinity up by the end of the coming week.**


End file.
